Day in the Life

As life begins to return to normal, many of our school schedules now have classes online and in-person. This means that campus commuters have to plan their schedules to accommodate for transportation time. In this blog, I will be walking you through one of my busiest days of the week as a commuter.  

Before we begin, this is a little background about me. I am a 3rd year Marketing major with dual minors in Finance and Biological Sciences. I drive from the southwest side of Chicago to campus almost every day. I also work in the office at West Campus, so there’s some commuting time from East Campus to there too.  

Down below is my schedule during my busiest day of the week. Now, everyone’s schedule may not be this hectic, but I like to stay busy while in school.  

5:30-7:00am Morning routine 

I start each morning with picking out my outfit and dressing for school. Then I take out my dogs to the backyard, feed my guinea pigs, eat breakfast, and make my lunch. 

7:00-8:00 AM - Drive to school 

While driving to school I listen to the Motivation Mix playlist on Spotify. I love to start my day with upbeat music in order to have a positive day.  

8:00-9:15 AM - Finance class (in person) 

My finance class is focused on quantitative investments. This means the class has a lot of statistics and overall analysis. It's a very interesting class.  

9:30-10:45 AM - Marketing class (in person) 

My marketing class is research based, so this also involves a lot of statistics, survey design, and building some client-based experience as my class works with small businesses across the country.  

11:00-11:30 AM - Take the bus to West Campus and Lunch 

To get to work, I take the CTA from east campus and eat my lunch once I arrive to Student Center West.  

11:30-3:30 PM - Work 

My work tasks vary by day, but I am usually writing blog posts or planning content for the UIClife Tik Tok account with my fellow UIClife blogger, Adrian. 

4:00-5:30 PM - Business Seminar (online) 

As a recipient of the UIC Business Scholars Scholarship, I have to attend weekly guest speaker events. These events help us to meet people from various sectors of the business industry and learn about their experience. I enjoy attending these events as I learn from people who have had time in the industry already and this gives me a little preview to what I can expect when I join the workforce.  

5:30-bedtime - Drive home and eat dinner with my family

I usually end the day by spending time with my pets and work on homework. However, some weeks I may have an e-board meeting with Five94’, a student run marketing agency that I’m a part of that works with campus organizations or local small businesses.    

This schedule may seem hectic, but it all works out and still allows me to do the things I like to do. People have asked me why I do not dorm on campus, and truthfully, it’s because I would not be able to see all of my pets if I did! I would rather drive to and from school as long as I can come home to spend time with them and my family. Every commuter may have a reason as to why they travel to campus instead of staying on campus, so shout-out to them for having to wake up extra early to get to school every day. Stay tuned for another students’ schedule and see how theirs differs from mine. Everyone’s schedule is different, but it is equally important to take care of oneself and have fun while doing so!